Over a packed weekend of Intercollegiate Horse Show Association action, Sweet Briar’s IHSA team moved ahead in the points standings.
After shows at Randolph College and at home on Feb. 8 and 10, the team went from the fifth to the fourth spot in the region. They made the gains despite a busy schedule that had them competing Friday, preparing Saturday to host a show, and riding again in Sunday’s at-home event, said SBC assistant IHSA team coach Emily Casali.
“Despite the busy schedule, the girls still had a very successful weekend and are pleased to see that they have moved up in the regional point standings,” Casali said.
By the end of the weekend, Hollins University led the region with 194 cumulative points, followed by Bridgewater at 191 and Randolph College at 184. Sweet Briar, with 153 points, stood one point ahead of fifth-place University of Virginia, at 152.
The remaining standings were: James Madison University, 145; Washington and Lee, 143; Lynchburg College, 130; Radford University, 98; and Longwood University, 59.
Sweet Briar added two riders to the IHSA roster this semester, Lauren Stephens ’09 and Heather Theunissen ’09. Both students made their IHSA debuts at Randolph, after riding on the jumper team in the fall. At the RC show, Stephens began the day in an Open Fences class. Theunissen came in sixth in her Open Flat class.
In the jumping classes that followed, no one placed below a third place, Casali said. Intermediate rider Heather McPheeters ’10 finished in second place, and Novice riders Paige Kaylor ’10 and Nell Malbon’11 were second and third respectively in their Novice Fences section. Morganne Young ’11 placed second in her Novice Fences class.
Young also was second in Intermediate Flat.
Sweet Briar riders swept their sections of Novice Flat, as Erin Aufox ’11 and Erica Palmisano ’11 both won their sections. Walk/Trot/Canter riders Laura Jones ’10 and Caitlyn Lindsey ’11 were fourth and sixth, while Melissa Ramos ’10 finished Walk/Trot in third.
On her home turf on Sunday, Stephens won a sixth-place ribbon in Open Fences. Mollie Linden ’10 finished sixth in her Open Flat class. Novice Flat riders Aufox and Palmisano followed their winning performances at Randolph with first- and second-place finishes on SBC school horses Gringo and Manny.
Novice Fences riders also were successful. Kaylor teamed up with SBC’s Trevor to win her section, while in a different class, Young was second on SBC’s Red Dog and Malbon and Gringo took third. Jones was fourth in Walk/Trot/Canter, followed by Lindsey in fifth.
